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Sunday, July 29, 2012

Elaine Byrne: Male, over 50, overpaid -- Official Ireland still rules - Analysis, Opinion - Independent.ie: Official Ireland ostracised heroes like the social worker Frank Crummey, who confronted the abuse of children head on. Joe McAnthony, the Sunday Independent investigative journalist who first uncovered payments to politicians back in 1973, also suffered. A troublemaker whose persistence was rewarded with emigration.
"My life was pretty much over as a journalist. Everything I worked on was closed down," Joe said in an interview some years ago. "Nobody would hire me. I had four children. So we had to go. I was essentially expelled from Ireland."
That's what Official Ireland has done to individuals who have tried to speak the truth. To avoid rather than confront. The refusal to recognise the fundamental difference between right and wrong which poisons public life. Excuses are made for erroneous behaviour, often to protect a reputation.?

Charges dispute minister accused - National News, Breaking News - Herald.ie: Environment Minister Phil Hogan has been accused of "monumental hypocrisy" after it emerged he is in a dispute over management fees at his apartment in Portugal.
The minister, who has been heavily criticised for his handling of the controversial 100 euro household charge, is believed to owe about 4,000 euro in service charges at the property on the Algarve.?

The Strange SIlence Over Phil Hogan's Soft Loans: It is interesting that while there a lot of attention has been paid has to the personal financial difficulties of Mick Wallace TD and Dr James Reilly that little political attention has been given to the case of Phil Hogan’s "soft" loan. (Now Minister) Hogan availed of nearly €900,000 worth of interest-only loans that were personally approved by Michael Fingleton the boss of the failed Irish Nationwide Building Society. The loans financed the purchase of an apartment in Portugal and a house in Dublin.?

ENCOURAGECHANGE.: All I can see is Mary O’Rourke, Nora Owen, Gay Byrne, Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh, and now Mike Murphy, on every time I turn on my TV. Is there no end to them? Our young people are leaving the country in droves. ?